Traditional Victorian fire surrounds include an opening which communicates with the chimney and in which is provided a grate for the fire, the opening being surrounded by a decorative fascia. The fascia is conventionally made in one piece from cast iron and may include an inner trim and hood framing the opening and an integral outer decorative border defining an outer edge of the fire surround. The fascia may include decorative tiles located between the border and the trim.
Victorian style fireplaces continue to be popular and may be adapted for use with gas fires. Conventionally, the grate is removed and a gas inset tray inserted in its place through the opening in the inner trim. The gas fire thereby simply takes the place of an open fire. The gas fire may be coal or log effect, etc., and is conventionally open to and vented by the chimney.
Such gas fires generally have a rated output of about 2 kW but the effective output may be significantly lower. It has been appreciated by the applicant that much of the heat provided by such fires is lost via the chimney, particularly if the ambient temperature of the room is relatively high. Thus although such fires have an attractive appearance, they may not significantly heat the room. Certainly their useful heat output into the room is considerably less than that of gas fires incorporating substantially enclosed gas fire units, which incorporate radiant or convector box housings. Such substantially enclosed gas fire units, however, cannot be used without modification to enable them to be inserted through the opening in the inner trim of a Victorian style fire surround.